Lemon-Garlic Zucchini Noodles

Zucchini noodles tossed together in a delicious lemony garlic sauce for the perfect healthy weeknight dinner that can easily be made in under 20 minutes!

You guys I have a new obsession.

Two words – zucchini noodles. Seriously they might be the greatest thing next to sliced bread and realizing that I could make rice out of cauliflower. I mean what a genius way to eat your veggies – you THINK you’re eating delicious carb-loaded pasta, when in reality you can go back for seconds or even thirds because, wait, they’re vegetables. Ever since I spiralized my first zucchini using my amazing Inspiralizer, I have been spiralizing sweet potatoes, squash, fruit, cucumbers….um you name it, I’ve probably made noodles out of it. If you don’t have an Inspiralizer yet then you need to get one ASAP….like right this minute. Seriously you are completely missing out, this thing is the epitome of life changing and I can’t wait to share even MORE recipes with it.

Can we say curly sweet potato fries anyone??

See how incredibly easy it is?!

All you do is cut both ends of the zucchini, attach each end to the Inspiralizer and start turning. Boom – zucchini noodles in seconds. Now one thing you want to make sure you do is soak up any excess water from the zucchini before you cook them. I like to use paper towels, but you can also let the noodles drain in a colander and sprinkle them with a little salt. This will draw out any excess water and then just pat them dry with a paper towel. Either way just make sure to get that water out! I found that one large zucchini yields about one serving cooked. If you don’t have a spiralizer you can simply just julienne the zucchini into thin strips, but c’mon – that would take forever and are they going to look like pretty perfect noodles? No probably not.

So yep, put this on your Christmas list.

Now I have had zucchini noodles with marinara before (which taste delicious mind you!), but I wanted to make something a little different. Something that was light and fresh that complimented the zucchini and what better way to do that than with lemons?! This literally might be one of my new favorite sauces and next time I may even throw some chicken in for a complete meal. Using chicken broth and a little half and half to thicken things up, I found that this sauce is creamy, flavorful and reminds me of a delicious Alfredo dish without all the added butter and flour! One thing I want to mention is that I allowed the sauce to simmer on the stove a bit before adding the zucchini noodles in order for everything to thicken up and the sauce to cook down. Zucchini doesn’t need to cook for very long before the noodles start to soften and since I personally like mine “al dente,” I only cooked them for about 3 minutes after adding them into the sauce, but feel free to taste test yours and see what you prefer!

This recipe has definitely been added into our weekly rotation since I pretty much can’t get enough of it plus if the hubs actually requests veggies for dinner then I know I’ve found a winner! For even more spiralized recipes, you should check out Ali Maffucci’s awesome cookbook Inspiralized that is perfect for any diet whether you are gluten-free, paleo or low-carb.

To spiralize your zucchini, first cut each end off your zucchini and attach to your spiralizer so that it is secure. Start turning and watch the magic happen!

Set your zucchini noodles aside on paper towels so that the water is soaked up.

In a large skillet on medium-high heat, drizzle a little olive oil and saute the shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add chicken broth, half and half, lemon juice and zest, red pepper flakes and salt/pepper.

Bring to a boil then cover and turn down heat to low allowing the sauce to simmer until it has reduced by almost half, about 15 minutes.

Toss your zucchini noodles in with your sauce and cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how you like your noodles cooked (al dente is about 3 minutes cooked).

Remove from heat, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (1 tablespoon per serving) and enjoy!

I have a similar recipe for this, but I am going to switch it out with yours! I totally agree with Kari’s comment above, “pasta without guilt”! I have been reading Ditching the Drive thrue by Natalie Winch, this recipe will fit her meal plans perfectly. Her book is amazing, the best read on healthy eating I have read in a long time!

You definitely could eat these the next day, just unfortunately the zucchini might release more liquid overnight making everything a bit watery. I haven’t tried leftovers yet, but if you do let me know how they are!

Made this vegetarian with veggie broth and used about a third of a cup of whole milk (I halved the whole recipe) instead of half and half because that’s all i had and added jalapeños for extra spice. it was definitely more of a noodle soup than sauce it was still insanely delicious!!